Friday, August 29, 2014

OUR SOBER GOLDEN BEAR

STUDENT SECTION AS ARIZONA KICKS OFF TO CAL

This is coming from the Napa Valley where early Sunday
morning my wife and I were awakened by a quake which rattled us more than Loma
Prieta ever dreamed of.Though my wife
is used to Hemminway’s concept of having the earth move, I was more than a
little shook up.

Fortunately, we were extremely lucky and were remarkably
unscathed.(Though a linen closet door
found my nose—not hard to do—as I attempted to run down the hallway in the
pitch black). Not a bottle of cab was lost.

Speaking of Cab, tomorrow thousands of loyal Cal alumni
will fall off the wagon and hit the sauce once again—or not. Maybe an upset is
in the making as our Bears take on the S.E.I.U Wildcats—formally known as Northwestern.

There’s always a chance this union
shop will go out on strike due to unfair coaching practices—too many wind
sprints or maybe a qb “barking” audibles in a loud voice, which offends the
sensibilities of certain gender undetermied linepersons—but if the chant of “On
Strike, Shut it down” is not echoed (as it was by us back in the 60’s) a game
will take place.

And we will be in it, daring them to fake injuries like last year to slow down our hurry up attack.

The Wildcats are only favored
by 11 (and we played them tough last year) so an upset is a distinct
possibility.

Don’t know about you, but I
awoke around midnight last night and felt that little chill run up by leg as I
pondered taping the game, watching it live, then watching it again to savor the
sublime joy of unexpected victory.Cal
football in the fall is a special time of year.

Goff is clearly the real deal
and so are his receivers.Last year our
offensive stats were incredible—but statistics are like bikinis:What they reveal is tempting, but what they
conceal is vital.

Are we hitters?Are we physical enough to compete at this
level?We’ll get a clue in about 24
hours.

I know I’m a dreamer—and my
dreams are all wet—but hope springs eternal every fall for Cal lovers.

College football is at a
crossroads.And the signposts are not
necessarily pointing in positive directions.

However, first the good news
for Cal:

Though the Stanford State
Indians are mentioned in several categories as well, check out these rankings
from The
2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU):

They devised a grid to rankthe most powerful and deplorable teams in college football.

Though
“shame” is tough to quantify (academics, suspensions, NCAA violations, arrests
etc.) they gave it a shot.

Needless
to say, Cal comes out not only worst in the Pac 12, but

In
the lowest quadrant possible—higher than only a handful of the 128 teams
ranked.

How
did the (Once) Greatest University in the World, ever let this happen?Once again, it’s why we drink.

Speaking of drinking:On a last note, the Journal did a study on
the demise of student attendance at football games across the country.Major programs like Michigan and Ohio State
are witnessing dwindling student support as well as Cal, which is off the
charts in no shows.

An average of 2,590 students
attended games last year (59th out of the 79 Schools from which the
Journal was able to obtain data).

Our average attendance was
down from 3,396 in 2012, when we only won three games.A drop of some 24%--the worst in the Pac
12.Clearly a one-win season had a lot
to do with that.

Of course, we know TV is
mainly responsible for the increase in no-shows, as the unpredictability of
start times degrades the game day experiences for everyone.

But once again, the Cal
Administration is shooting itself in the foot.Due to political correctness (under the guise of “safety”) they are
brethalizing students before they enter the student section.

Spirit clubs (like Sons of
California and Daughters of California) are being profiled (As a sign of
support they wear ties to games—tipping the cops off that they’ve probably had
a few bears before hand—something we and my parents and grand parents never did).

If one doesn’t pass the Breathalyzer,
she gets a “ticket,” is tossed from the game, and it “goes on their permanent
record.”

Not sure I (or any of my
friends) EVER attended a Saturday afternoon game in Strawberry Canyon
alone—that is without a few beers before hand.

Now, these are campus cops
causing this disruption—not Berkeley police or the Sheriff’s department.

So all the administration has
to do is say, back off—let the kids be kids.

It’s a bad policy all around,
for if a kid has had too much to drink, what better place to keep him than
inside a stadium, alcohol free, for three hours?Is it wise to send him back to his apartment,
Henry’s or his fraternity house to watch the game on TV and no doubt consume
more booze?

And of course, the
breathalyzing stalls the lines so the kids have to wait 45 minutes to an hour
just to get into the game.Not exactly a
fan friendly experience which is designed to win friends and gain future ticket
holders.

Wins may or may not bring
back kids—one would think yes.But if
they fear being profiled and busted for booze—we’re going to leave a lot of
future paying customers back in the bars and frat houses.

Call me crazy, but we should
be busting hump to make the experience as pleasurable as possible to develop in
them, the same habits which were developed in us—Beer is for drinking, water is
for fighting, and fall Saturdays are for Cal Football.

Stop by for some Cab if you
get up this way—no breathalyzers, I promise.

2 comments:

JackF
said...

But hey, over across the way the adults in the club section get free liquor and no hassle. Former Cal graduates who put vodka in their orange gremlins? College is supposed to be fun. Not a constant hassle.

About Me

I write a Weekly Column for the St. Helena Star and have a Weekly Radio Show on KVON 1440am (KVON.com) on Wednesday's at 5pm. My Columns are about daily small town life in rural St. Helena. I'm old school and often write about the "old Days." I'm a Capitalist an believe in individual liberty and the rugged individualist. I also do a weekly blog on my trips to the Cal Bears Football games--but you gotta luv the Bears to like it. Having no marketable skills I sell dirt (vineyards wineries, ranches and estates), having formerly been a Creative Director and Copy Writer in New York and S.F.